9/11: al-Qaeda Didn’t Act Alone … One of the first discussions by the establishment press on the possibility that the 9/11 commission and official version of the attack might be incorrect. … “According to the Havlish memorandum, Iran facilitated bin Laden’s move three years later to Afghanistan. An Iranian intelligence officer met bin Laden there at about the time he first discussed airborne suicide attacks on American cities. During the ensuing period, when bin Laden was using a satellite phone, 10 per cent of his outgoing calls were to Iran.” – UK Telegraph

Zero Hour For Gaddafi … Time to end the civil war in Libya, as NATO and US forces moved east toward Syria in order to take out the Iranian ally of Syria on the northern front of Israel. “The fighting inside Tripoli, combined with rebel advances to the outskirts of the city, appeared to signal the decisive phase in a six month conflict that has become the bloodiest of the ‘Arab Spring’ uprisings and embroiled NATO powers.” – Reuters

Nations Race to Defuse Crisis Between Egypt and Israel … Were the Arab attackers against IDF Forces in Sinai from Gaza or Egypt proper and does it matter? In Israel’s defense, reports indicated the attackers were dressed in Egyptian Army uniforms which probably led to the warplane mistake but we fear this could become a real crisis in the area because a limited military conflict benefits all sides. – NY Times

Trouble in Paradise – Strength of Swiss Franc Roils Saint-Tropez and Other Cities Across Europe … The bottom line is many homebuyers in Eastern Europe as well as government entities across Europe borrowed money at low interest rates tied to the Swiss franc but with the principal payback owed in Swiss francs. The weakening euro and fear of sovereign debt defaults have made the Swiss franc today the safe-haven currency of choice for the world and as you know it has substantially appreciated against the weakening euro and dollar. Now the borrowers can’t afford to pay back the debts in Swiss francs because of the falling values of their home currencies versus the Swiss franc. – WSJ

9/11: al-Qaeda Didn’t Act Alone

One of the first discussions by the establishment press on the possibility that the 9/11 commission and official version of the attack might be incorrect. … “According to the Havlish memorandum, Iran facilitated bin Laden’s move three years later to Afghanistan. An Iranian intelligence officer met bin Laden there at about the time he first discussed airborne suicide attacks on American cities. During the ensuing period, when bin Laden was using a satellite phone, 10 per cent of his outgoing calls were to Iran.”…. “This court document draws on affidavits by former 9/11 Commission staff members, a French investigative magistrate, former CIA officers, and an Israeli intelligence analyst.” … “Saudi Arabia’s oilfields are a vital resource, and their protection was a vital priority on 9/11. For that same reason, it was seen as necessary to preserve America’s “friendship” with the Saudi regime – even when some of its members were suspected of complicity in the most dastardly terrorist onslaught in history.” – UK Telegraph

Dominant Social Theme: Well, holding back the details of Saudi involvement was justified because of American friendship at the time with Saudi Arabia. The world needs oil!

Free-Market Analysis: Much of today’s DB Briefs are about rising tensions in the Middle East, which might create an excuse and justification for foreign US and NATO-led interventions in the region. Specifically, heightened tensions are expected as the Anglosphere elites ready to assault Syria, Hezbollah and even the area of Egypt where their oil pipeline formerly supplied Israel before the overthrow of Hosni Mubarak.

Zero Hour for Gaddafi

Time to end the civil war in Libya, as NATO and US forces moved east toward Syria in order to take out the Iranian ally of Syria on the northern front of Israel. “The fighting inside Tripoli, combined with rebel advances to the outskirts of the city, appeared to signal the decisive phase in a six month conflict that has become the bloodiest of the ‘Arab Spring’ uprisings and embroiled NATO powers.” – Reuters

Dominant Social Theme: The tyrant Gaddafi is finished thanks to NATO and US efforts in aiding the “Arab Spring” rebels. These color revolutions can only happen and should only succeed with Western support.

Free-Market Analysis: The elites will pick and choose which revolutions are right and why we are supporting those in Syria and Libya and opposing the ones in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia. Libya is an artificial nation held together by a dictatorial government using oil revenues to bribe tribal support for the central government. Formerly part of the Italian Empire, provinces of Cyrenaica and Tripolitania were originally given to Italy as a conciliation prize after she received no German colonies for entering World War One on the Allied side.

Well, using the Pottery Barn rule of American foreign policy, NATO and the US military-industrial complex “you break it, you buy it” policy, the artificial nation will have to be fixed and democracy introduced by foreign occupation, which will guarantee Libyan oil supplies for Europe. NATO and the US is just cutting out the middleman (Gaddafi) in the transaction. Oil is a far too important resource, that must be priced in dollars, to be threatened by local political leaders.

Nations Race to Defuse Crisis Between Egypt and Israel

Were the Arab attackers against IDF Forces in Sinai from Gaza or Egypt proper and does it matter? In Israel’s defense, reports indicated the attackers were dressed in Egyptian Army uniforms which probably led to the warplane mistake but we fear this could become a real crisis in the area because a limited military conflict benefits all sides. … “Diplomats scrambled to avert a crisis in relations between Egypt and Israel on Saturday, and the Israeli government issued a rare statement of regret for the killing of three Egyptian security officers by an Israeli warplane.” – NY Times

Dominant Social Theme: It was all a mistake on the air attack and Israel needs to again control Gaza and close the border with Egypt or there will be more terrorist attacks.

Free-Market Analysis: The long-term occupation of Palestine and the blockade of Gaza does not contribute to the security of Israel but instead creates an environment of perpetual conflict and now another full-scale military conflict may be about to unfold. First, Israel needs to secure Gaza and move against the Hezbollah rocket forces in Southern Lebanon before joining NATO against Syria and launching an attack against the Iranian nuclear sites. The new Egyptian army government needs to appear tough against Israel and the pipeline that Egyptian nationalists continue to blow-up week after week that supplies Israel with oil.

A brief conflict would allow Egypt to close the pipeline permanently and win support at home while Israel took care of business with Gaza. Both sides appear to benefit.

Trouble in Paradise – Strength of Swiss Franc Roils Saint-Tropez and Other Cities Across Europe

The bottom line is many homebuyers in Eastern Europe as well as government entities across Europe borrowed money at low interest rates tied to the Swiss franc but with the principal payback owed in Swiss francs. The weakening euro and fear of sovereign debt defaults have made the Swiss franc today the safe-haven currency of choice for the world and as you know it has substantially appreciated against the weakening euro and dollar. Now the borrowers can’t afford to pay back the debts in Swiss francs because of the falling values of their home currencies versus the Swiss franc. … “Like Saint-Tropez, many municipalities across Europe are saddled with loans carrying variable interest rates pegged to fluctuations in the Swiss franc, other foreign currencies or various commodity prices …. Jittery investors have been turning en masse to the Swiss franc and other assets deemed as safe havens amid growing concerns over sputtering economic growth in the U.S. and Europe.” – WSJ

Dominant Social Theme: Those greedy and selfish Swiss… why can’t they allow their currency to depreciate and collapse like the rest of Europe and the U.S.?

Free-Market Analysis: Sometimes even the SNB does what is best for Switzerland instead of in concert with the rest of the central bankers. (Not that we believe any central banking edifice is necessary for a functional monetary system to exist.) Anyway, at least now they appear to be trying to bring down the franc, but has the euro crisis created too much fear and resulting safehaven demand for the franc at the expense of the ECB’s euro and the Federal Reserve’s dollar? Is the Swiss National Bank unable to stop the rise in their currency?

Currencies rise and fall depending on investor demand for stronger currencies outside the euro and dollar. Those governments and private borrowers chose the Swiss franc as the base currency because they believed the false EU propaganda about how everyone would get “something for nothing” with the euro and European Union. They were wrong and now the EU wants Switzerland to fix the problem and bail out the investors from their mistakes. If anyone should be bailing out this investment mistake it should be the European mortgage lenders who pushed this idea and the government bureaucrats who believe their own false propaganda. Even with all of the manipulation and control of markets today, in the end the free-market will always win out and in this case, sooner rather than later.